Our product is self-funded -- should we apply to Winter YC? | Hacker News Reader

Our product is self-funded -- should we apply to Winter YC?

bitsybox.com

18 pointsroachsocal32 comments

You need to remove the "annoying" client reference in your video and change it to something like "highly involved" client or "detail oriented" client.

Our clients are not annoying, but some of them are far more immersed in the details than others.

I can't very well tell a client I'm using Bitsybox for their site if your site labels them as "annoying clients".

Strongly seconded. You wouldn't treat your clients with contempt, and you shouldn't treat their clients with contempt.

People use services to solve problems. Some problems demand that level of focus to get it right fast. If you don't take their wants/needs seriously, why would they take you seriously? They are paying you, not the other way around, (and even in that case, it's a bad idea to treat people like that).

I see what you're trying to do, but it's coming across as "if you wear a tie and need it right and right now, you're an uptight jerk". Perhaps they are, perhaps they're not, but you're doing yourself no favors by pointing it out.

Also note that people with those requirements are the most likely to pay a lot for satisfaction; they might be the most profitable segment of your client's customer base.

This is the feedback we were looking for -- and you're right, the most interest in the concept has, so far, come from site owners looking to take back control of their content. BitsyBox was built with them in mind, but from a developers perspective (that's our background).

We showed the video to just a handful of freelance developers, so we really didn't focus too much on the perspective of the clients.

We're planning to make some changes to the video this weekend. Thanks guys.

That's one of the hardest parts of business; seeing things from other people's perspective. The concept of that banality of evil can be applied wider as a thought tool: the banality of I don't get why they did that, but they thought they had a good reason at the time.

Come to think of it, that might be one reason why YC seems to be having good luck teaching programmers about business; we're more used to adjusting our views to reality than most professions. So just think of it as a syntax error that you've found and fixed.

We updated the video based on your feedback:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFF16U5jFT4&hd=1

Thanks HN peeps.

Has anyone applied to YC, got accepted, and quit their day job?

That is the scenario we're facing with BitsyBox. We love every minute that we're working on it but I wanted to get some feedback from the HN community about whether we should start thinking about it as our big jump out of the corporate developer's life.

Basically right now, we go to our corporate jobs during the day, come back at night and work for four hours on it -- this can't be uncommon. We're ready to make the leap to work on this everyday / all day -- but we'd really like to have some seed funding or be ramen-profitable first.

It's a 3 month cycle and most of the team has to move to get funding from ycom. At which point, you better be willing to give it a full-time effort if you're taking someone else's money and you expect success. Building a business is hard work and requires a ton of energy.

http://ycombinator.com/faq.html

Can we do it without moving to where you are?

Sorry, no. We tried this once, and by Demo Day that startup was way behind the rest. What we do, we have to do in person. We would not be doing a startup a favor by not making them move.

You can leave one founder at home, but the rest, including the CEO, have to live in the Bay Area during the 3 month funding cycle.

Yes, I did. I left a $100K+ job to work on Poll Everywhere. Been growing ever since and it was, without a doubt, the best thing I've done for myself in a long time. Never looked back. It also helps, when you're really small still, to have some decent wad of personal savings, too.

On a side note, BitsyBox is a great idea: content management without the content management system, or, a feather rather than a sledgehammer.

Most founders quit a job to do the startup. Only about 20-25% were students before.

Interesting. I hadn't picked up on that ratio from your essays, although I certainly didn't think all YC applicants were students/fresh out of school.

This possibly isn't the right place to offer this information but ... I let your video run for about ten seconds and then turned it off. The characterisation stuff just ... just no. I wanted to see the product.

I am, however, -extremely- aware that I Am Not Your Target Market and that the story-oriented style can work perfectly well. But if the video is going to aim for a marcomms style then it'd be nice if you built out the explanation stuff a bit more. And made it work with ctrl+click rather than being javascript silliness only.

</grumpy-old-school-unix-head>

That's good feedback. As far as the video goes, we used to have only the developer stuff in it. Then the non-technical people didn't get a word of it. So we decided to add the first minute to explain the problem we're trying to solve.

With the JS overlays -- when we launch the real website (in the next couple of months) it won't use those -- it's just a normal, click as you go, website. Also, we'll very likely split the video back into two, one for developers, one for site owners.

Two more things about that video:

Get rid of sentences like "The solution xxx has been waiting for". Be humble in language, impress with the demonstration instead.

Get rid of the music or change it. It's okay in the beginning when it's hardly noticable but as "drama" builds up it becomes rather ridiculous (reminded me of a really bad McGyver episode).

Other than that I liked the video. It did a very good job at getting the point across for me in reasonable time. Many intro-screencasts suffer from being too long or too high- or low-level. I think you struck a good balance there.

I don't agree with the complaint that it should be more technical. For me it was just right to get a quick grasp on what you offer. Anything more detailed should either be in text or in a second screencast.

We did. (OK, I was contracting which isn't a corporate job in the first place. But I gave up a lot of potential income to do YC.)

I second those who are saying that simply filling out the application (and especially, making the video - boiling your startup down to 1 minute is HARD) will be really rewarding.

I would recommend that you and your co-founders make a pact: if you get in to Y Combinator, you will do Y Combinator, full-time, 100% all the way. If anyone can't agree to that, then you shouldn't apply. Or maybe find a new co-founder.

I think if you're going to seriously do something like this, you have to make it your sole commitment. pg has lots of essays on why, so I won't rehash them.

If you're waiting for the perfect moment, even if there was such a thing, I'd be highly doubtful anyone would be able to identify it except in hindsight. In the end, you have to make up your mind for yourself, because you are going to be the one to live with the consequences.

Sure; that scenario is quite common.

do those people get to keep more equity?

The amount of equity we ask for doesn't vary that much, actually, because the ratio of applications to people we fund is so high now that everyone who makes it is pretty good.

YC is one of the few VC's out there where the money really is secondary, it certainly won't hurt.

Applying for funding is also a great way to express to yourself and your team what it is that you do, writing all that stuff down is not just communicating to the outside, it changes you. Even if you get turned down you will still come out ahead.

That is a great perspective on it. The application process itself almost always helps the applicant. Will keep that in mind.

The same thing goes for a business plan. The act of writing the business plan is more important than the plan itself. Combine those two and hopefully you have new perspective on your product and positioning.

My favorite questions include: What do you get that your competitors just don't get? (straight from the YC app) What are you intentional shortcomings? Defensibility: What is your competitive advantage and how do you respond to big names coming into your space?

This is a great point, but please don't apply because just for validation only to turn it down because you aren't ready to commit.

Has anyone ever been accepted and then turned it down?!

Bitsybox seems nice but judging by the video, CushyCMS appears to be easier to use (I am freelance designer and that's what I currently have my clients set up with).

I definitely think that there's space for both Bitsybox and CushyCMS, but it would be interesting to hear you talk about the differences.

Why is this better than CushyCMS - which allows you to tag a div - give FTP info, then edit the content from the backend of CushyCMS - which can be whitelabeled ... you could then sell this whitelabeled cms to your clients - as a monthly fee...

I apologize for sidetracking, but I am curious what did u guys use to create your video presentation? And of course, of course best of luck with BitsyBox !

I used Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop for the still photos and graphics, then brought them into Apple Final Cut Pro for the editing.

The narration was recorded at my desk (with pillows around me to stop echos) using an Audio Technica AT2020 USB condenser mic.

Thank you for your input, I appreciate it !

If you think the money you get from YC is the most important part, you've missed the point of YC.

I didn't mean this to sound snarky. The advice and help, and the fact that they are invested, (in all meanings of the term), in you are far more valuable than the ~15k you get.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com